New WISERD civil society research in India and Bangladesh

A new WISERD international partnership project examining civil society in India and Bangladesh has been announced.

The project, entitled “Exploring effective practice in civil society organisations’ promotion of human rights, good governance and social justice in India and Bangladesh” is led by Professor Paul Chaney (Cardiff University) and Sahoo Sarbeswar (Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi).

Funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund, this interdisciplinary project will use mixed research methods and combines sociology, political science and anthropology.

Prof Paul Chaney said: "With religious freedom and gender equality being key to realising the UN Sustainable Development Goals, our project focuses on civil society's role in developing them. These pose key challenges with ongoing, deep-set patterns and processes of gender oppression and religious conflict in both countries. Attention will centre on the views of civil society organisations of the key issues, as well as areas of progress and ongoing challenges in relation to advocacy and service delivery for women, girls and different religious communities."

The project will inform understanding of civil society’s role in meeting both countries’ international human rights obligations, such as Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Prof Chaney added: "The potential impact of this work is manifold. Not only will it further understanding of the challenges and barriers facing civil society in upholding rights, but also identify instances of best practice and provide a resource for civil society organisations, government and rights-monitoring bodies. This project will benefit the lives of those traditionally subject to gender- and religious-based discrimination, oppression and inequality."